gDiapers' Owners on Green Living from Top to Bottom—Literally

By Felicity Loughrey
April 27, 2011

gdiapers Ten years ago, when Kim Graham-Nye was pregnant with her first child, she was shocked at the eco-unfriendliness of her diaper options. “This is a product every parent uses,” says Graham-Nye. “We thought there’d be more than two choices: convenient disposables that end up in a landfill... or cloth nappies [that require loads of energy and water to clean]." With a desire to instill sustainable habits in her child from day one, she went looking for a better eco friendly baby diaper option.

At a parenting expo in Sydney, Australia, where the Graham-Nyes and her husband were then living, Kim stumbled on Baby Eenee Weenee Eco Nappy—environmentally friendly diapers with a washable cotton outer shell with a compostable, flushable liner. Within a week of using the Eenee Weenee Eco Nappy, Kim Graham-Nye and her husband, Jason, got in touch with the Tasmanian manufacturer of the eco friendly baby products and a year later, owned the license for the diapers outside of Australia and New Zealand.

It took another two years to secure funding before the family boarded a plane for Portland, Oregon. Their first, son Fynn, was nearly three when they arrived, and Kim was six-months pregnant with their second son, Harper.

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gDiapers images courtesy of the company

For the U.S. market, they rebranded Eenee Weenee Eco Nappy to gDiapers. (In the UK, gDiapers are sold as gNappies). Today, they offer their hybrid eco friendly diapers, consisting of reusable gPants in a huge variety of seasonal colors and prints, along options for both flushable/biodegradable and washable inserts. They also sell matching gStyle eco friendly clothing (made from, as they say " no elemental chlorine, no perfumes, no latex and no guilt"), eco friendly baby wipes and other accessories. The brand has picked up a celebrity following— Oscar-winning mom-of-three Julia Roberts told Vanity Fair that gDiapers eco friendly baby products are a household favorite.

For Kim Graham-Nye, the best thing about gDiapers is the passionate customer base. “We have 27,000 Facebook fans and they’re so active. It’s a really amazing community; seeing that community build over the years, watching all of that is super cool.”

“Another great thing is getting to do business differently. We’re not just family-friendly; we’re family-centered.” Employees have four-weeks’ vacation leave, on-site childcare (there are 75 children enrolled in gVillage) and flexible hours. Jason and Kim Graham lead by example. They work from 5am to 3pm so they can spend afternoons with their sons.

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The Graham-Nyes' schedule also allows for some eBay shopping. “I do the laundry. He’s the eBay guy,” says Kim. Jason fesses up to fantasy window-shopping for vintage cars on eBay online auctions and has picked up Pokemon cards for Fynn. “He was after some super specific ones and we managed to find them on eBay for a great price,” says Jason. “I think that was the first piece of mail he had received that wasn’t from his grandparents. He was very excited.”

Although Jason prefers the buy-it-now option, he has eBay bidding tips for auctions. “If you are bidding, always set it up with [e-Bay automatic bidding] at pre-determined increments. That will surely win the day.”

(images courtesy of gDiapers)

Jason Graham-Nye of gDiapers shares his eco-friendly, family-friendly eBay wishlist:

Roll over items for details

Stainless Steel Straws

(buy it now price, $11.65)

Re-Usable Lunch Wrap

(buy it now price, 12.31)

Battery-free Flashlight

(buy it now price, $14.88)

Wooden Building Blocks

(buy it now price, $14.99)

Non-toxic Snack Plate

(buy it now price, $11.59)

Eco-friendly Tupperware Lunch Set

(buy it now price, $13.99)

Eco-friendly Clay

(buy it now price, $36.50)

My First Recycling Kit

(buy it now price, $24.99)

Homemade Kids

(buy it now price, $14.23)

Kidzack

(buy it now price, $19.79)

gDiapers' Owners on Green Living from Top to Bottom—Literally

1. Stainless Steel Straws: “Reuse, reuse, reuse. It’s simple, but it works.”

2. Re-Usable Lunch Wrap: “We use these for our kids school lunches. Being cool and looking cool.”

3. Battery-free Flashlight: “Our six-year-old is obsessed with flashlights, especially when he is out in the cubby house in the garden. These battery-less options work wonders.”

4. Wooden Building Blocks: “When we started gDiapers, we realized there was so much else we could do. Choosing wooden toys was an obvious one" [because unlike plastic toys, which fill up landfills, wooden toys eventually compost].

5. Non-toxic Snack Plate: “Eliminating plastic from the house is a big mission for us. This is neat as it is eco-friendly and with the old-school compartments, the kids actually enjoy eating more.”

6. Eco-friendly Tupperware Lunch Set: “Being green doesn’t have to mean being dull. The kids love those Disney/Pixar movies and they can dig it even more in an eco-friendly way with this.”

7. Homemade Kids: Thrifty, Creative and Eco-friendly Ways to Raise your Child: “This is a great resource for parents as they think about ways to raise kids in a way that is easy on the planet and the purse strings.”

8. Eco-friendly Clay: “Our younger son loved play dough. We were never big fans of the smell of the original but this eco-friendly option is a good one.”

9. My First Recycling Kit: “It’s never too early to start recycling. Having these as a part of the kids’ chores guarantees that recycling becomes part of their every day.”

10. Kidzack: “For the creative kid in every family, this is a fun and functional gift!”

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